When your brain thinks that your body is dying, it sends out a signal to your muscles telling it to contract suddenly in an effort to wake your body up.
This is called a myoclonic jerk.
It normally happens when your heart rate and breathing slows down quicker than normal. Thus, the brain inteprets it as signal that the body is dying and the myoclonic jerk causes your body to have a "defibrillated" effect. Myoclonic jerks can happen in any part of the body. Most oftenly, the hands and feet.
Myoclonic jerks may also originate from lesions in the cortex and the spinal cord.
So, if you get a myoclonic jerk, 3 things. You might want to thank your lucky stars that your body prevented you from dying. Secondly, you might want to question your brain's intelligence if you knew that you were not dying. Thirdly, you might have to worry because you may have a brain problem.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
It's been known to happen in some sleeping disorders. The body misinterprets the unusually low heart rate or respiratory rate, thinks it's dying, and convulses. Innocent sleeper has sudden half-dreaming sensation of falling suddenly and wakes up with elevated heart rate. I've experienced it a few times. Once, landed on the floor 1.5 m out of bed. Painful.
Is it really that serious?
"The body misinterprets the unusually low heart rate or respiratory rate, thinks it's dying, and convulses. Innocent sleeper has sudden half-dreaming sensation of falling suddenly and wakes up with elevated heart rate."
I thought this is just the 'thud' you feel when you wake up from a dream in which you were falling, or running and wake up abruptly?
Post a Comment